MANIFESTATIONS OF THE INFLUENCE OF HISTORICAL REALITY OF THE 1930S ON PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS IN UKRAINIAN FAMILIES

Abstract

Based on literature, periodicals, and archival sources, the impact of violent collectivization, the Holodomor, and mass political repressions on personal relationships in Ukrainian families is considered. It is noted that relationships in a common family were built on moral principles sanctified by ages. That did not suit the new government, whose theories did not always correspond to the experience of humankind. Therefore, the authorities needed to break the bounds that connected generations, to present the older generation as backward and reactionary. A blow to the unity of generations was struck at the very center of the life of the human community – the family. The government propaganda imposed on society such standards of relationships, where natural human feelings for family members were assigned a secondary role. It is emphasized that the authorities tried to prioritize the interests of the state in relationships between family members, and provoked hostility between generations of parents and children. The methods and means used to achieve the set goal are shown. The atmosphere of mistrust, suspicion, and hypocrisy in the relationships between the closest relatives in those families that came under the influence of the government propaganda and repression is highlighted. The author has come to the conclusion that family relationships undergone significant transformations under the pressure of the authorities. A campaign was launched with the purpose to impose on family members the idea that family values were nothing compared to the interests of the authorities. Mass political repressions became a component of that campaign. The social realities of the 1930s often led to the split of families, the loss of their members’ natural sense of intimacy, and even outright betrayal of the family’s interests. Such a state could not but affect personal family relationships as they became distorted, insincere, and hypocritical. It cannot be said that this phenomenon covered absolutely all families, but those whose members were afraid to be suspected of disloyalty to the authorities, or who unconditionally believed the propaganda of the authorities, were distorted by insincere relationships and the number of such families was very large.